			Pyramid Pursuit
			      by
			 Cameron Hills

 http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Battlefield/1977/
		      (for 1998 at least)

			     Notes

Theme

 The scenario takes place inside a massive Pyramid, 
 where tribes pitch campsites. Each are endeavoring to
 rescue the captured Princess Mertseger, whose return
 will bestow upon the successful tribe huge wealth.
 Such is the prize, the groups have no compunction in
 going into battle.

 As tribes build their military strength, their
 workers excavate antiquities from the Pyramid, which
 provide the tribe special benefits.

 There are several objectives in the scenario, which
 are both militaristic and technological.
 
 There are four playable tribes, each with an equivalent
 starting position. A fifth, aggressive "human" tribe
 (Greeks) has been added, but they have a much weaker
 starting position than the others. The captors (Romans)
 have a separate tech tree and units roster. There are
 stringent restrictions on this tribe, making them
 effectively unplayable.

 The scenario is fictional, not historically accurate.

Unit Design

 Clearly the graphical design for the bulk of the units
 is founded on variations of the standard "Fanatics"
 unit, which best compliments an ancient Middle-Eastern
 setting. Other units have been modified from the
 MicroProse "Fantastic Worlds" library. My own attempts
 to create new designs led to sadly inadequate results!

Units

 Scenario units correspond reasonably closely to the
 standard game's units. Warriors have an attack
 strength of two, but are more expensive to produce.
 The Mameluke unit is broadly equivalent to the
 Crusader. There are only two horseback units, no sea,
 no air, and just the one projectile unit available
 beyond the range of ground units available.

Icons

 The Barracks icon was modified from a graphic taken
 from "allicons.zip" from the WWW, as the standard
 Barracks icon appeared out-of-place as too modern.
 All "Wonder" icons are new, except the "Pyramid
 Blueprint", which is clearly a modified version of
 the icon for Pyramids.

Antiquities

 Replacing the Wonders, about 2/3 are retained for this
 scenario, however the more modern WoWs of the game
 by-and-large have been dropped. They have been renamed,
 but generally not to the extent that they are
 unrecognisable from the standard WoWs. The nomenclature
 pertains to Egyptian mythology and historical figures.

Technology Tree

 Technology can be traded between tribes through
 negotiation, but cannot be stolen or obtained by
 conquest. There is no diplomat/spy unit in this
 scenario.

 The benefits of the early technology advances
 by-and-large are the same, with a few amendments.
 The 'pedia file may be referred to. Early changes
 include; Hieroglyphics as a name change for Writing,
 Barracks become available with Warrior Code, and
 The Sphinx is a result of Construction, rather than
 The Pyramids as a result of Masonry (for "counts as a
 Granary in each of your cities").

 The composition of the advances has altered, and
 becomes increasingly rearranged as the game progresses.
 A few early advances have been totally dropped (such
 as The Wheel), and no sea-related advances have been
 made available.

Events

 There is a comprehensive events file that will liven
 the game up significantly and steer the tribes toward
 the goals.

Tribes

 The computer controlled tribes have been given more
 aggressive profiles. The two "Not for Play" tribes
 cannot negotiate, however may boast of their tech
 advances.

Terrain

 Terrain has been changed. Plains squares are +1 in
 food production. Irrigation is not an option in this
 scenario. Some special resources have been amended,
 although the change is largely cosmetic.

Government

 Government switching is possible, and a shift towards
 low-corruption government forms will yield benefits,
 given that half of your camps are likely to be some
 considerable distance from the Capital. Not all six
 forms of Government are available.

The "Go To" Command

 As the computer often sees the rooms as islands, often
 the "Go To" command used to move units between cities
 is limited. As such the units occasionally must be
 moved with the mouse or keyboard arrow keys between
 cities.

Difficulty Setting

 The default level has been set at "King", where there
 is an even chance with the other tribes. Higher levels
 of difficulty are possible, but players may be
 frustrated by the slow development of technology, and
 the shield penalty's effect on the capacity to quickly
 produce enough Settlers.

The Early Game

 All tribes commence with the Alphabet advance already
 researched. The initial stage of the game will focus on
 exploration, and founding many new campsites. Check the
 distribution of trade income to science/beaker
 production. Be mindful that one group of your sites
 will be high in corruption while the other will be
 lower and accommodate for this. Walls have no food,
 shield or trade value, so sites should be constructed
 "inland" wherever possible. Contact with other tribes
 is unlikely for quite a few turns, however defensively
 strong "wandering lizards" may crawl in from the
 desert from time to time. Tribes may start with some
 military units for which the corresponding Advance has
 yet to be researched.

Developer's Objective

 I've aimed to create a scenario where players can feel
 confident that they can undertake the game with a
 familiarity of the standards rules, yet different
 enough from the standard game to be of interest. The
 scenario is "objective oriented" (not in terms of
 taking "objective" cities, but hitting certain
 trigger events) and rewards both technical prowess and
 military strength.

The game has been play-tested, and worked without a
hitch, however should you strike a difficulty, please
let me know at;
		aswe1@mail.ozemail.com.au
		(valid for 1998)

Best of luck!

